In Thai restaurants abroad soups play a small role in the menu. Most eat them as appetizers, though here in Thailand I eat a soup over rice as my main course for lunch or dinner. Soups are easy for Thai restaurants to make and most westerners find them agreeable with their palate. Thai restaurants typically have certain soups available and we'll tell you a little bit about them and how to pronounce them when you order.

My favorite soup is tom yum. All of the Thai transliterations that I put in this article are pronounced as they appear. There ARE slight variations on the words to make them perfect, but writing and speaking are not perfect matches...

Tom yum is a spicy soup made with galangal, lemongrass, red onions, lemon juice, tomato, mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves, chinese celery, fish sauce, shrimp and chili paste, chili peppers.

There is tom yum goong - with shrimp.

There is tom yum talay - with seafood.

There is tom yum pla meuk.

The clear soup is called tom yum goong naam sy.

The other tom yum is creamy and has coconut milk and is called tom yum goong naam kon.


Gang-Leeung is another soup. It has corn, pumpkin, green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, shrimp and chili peppers. It is not as flavorful as tom yum, but has a more mild taste. The pumpkin is delicious - just a bit sweet.

Gang Jued (Jood) has minced pork, tofu, seaweed and some spices. It's a very light soup and usually is to accompany other dishes. It may be brought gratis (free of charge).


There are some other Thai restaurant soups, but I think that it is unlikely you'll find them in restaurants abroad.

Hope this helps you order!